I completed my PhD in Germany in 1999 and my postdoctoral time was at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, USA.

In 2008 I returned from the USA to establish the" Cancer and Metabolism" research group at the Westmead  Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. In 2015 I moved to James Cook University to a tenured position, where I lecture on metabolic biochemistry in the medical school and lead a research group in the Discipline of Molecular and Cell Biology. The lab is situated in the Science Place and has excellent facilities.

The lab's current research focuses on two themes:

1. Genes regulating liver cancer progression and metabolism.

2. Genes regulating muscle growth and repair.

The laboratory utilises mouse and cellular models for our studies and we are always looking for motivated students who wish to run with a project. PhD students can apply for a JCU domestic or International MPhil/PhD Scholarship, or alternatively a scholarship from their home country to support their stay.  Applications for Internships and Masters Degrees are encouraged to enquire. Science Honours and Medical Honours students should approach me about their studies. We collaborate extensively with Clinicians in the Townsville University Hospital and pursue industry based collaborations.

We have published in Journals that include: Journal of Cell Science, Cancer Research, Oncogene, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Hepatology,  Journal of Biological Chemistry, PLoS One, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Basis of Disease, BBA-Reviews on Cancer, Biomolecules and Scientific Reports - Nature.

Current Honours/Masters/PhD projects:

1. Understanding new regulators of liver cancer progression.

2. The role of novel genes in muscle growth.

For MPhil and PhD scholarships see:

https://www.jcu.edu.au/courses/master-of-philosophy

https://www.jcu.edu.au/courses/doctor-of-philosophy

I have supervised seven PhD, two Masters and five Honours students to completion. These students have received competitive PhD scholarships (e.g. Australian Postgraduate Award, NSW Cancer Institute, Saudi PhD scholarships), and won scientific awards (e.g. GESA Student Prizes and Tour De Cure Scholarships). Four of the Honours students have completed their Honours with first class. I have also had a number of Interns, Summer students, and European Masters students whom have performed their projects in my lab, from Iran, Denmark, China,  Netherlands and Switzerland.

Current group

Postdoc: Dr Miriam Wankell MSc PhD

Adjunct Postdoc: Dr Kylie Lopas BSc Hons PhD MBBS (Townsville University Hospital)

PhD Student: Lauren Taylor BSc Hons Ist Class

PhD Student: Rhys Gillman BSc MPhil

PhD Student: Dr Eun Jin Sun BA MBBS Hons 1st class

Former students at JCU:

Brittany Dewdney, Casey Toft, Maxine Smith, Skye McGregor, Cong Chen, Berenice Charrez, Jade Sternberg, Roxanne Kreuter, Kaltrina Paloja, Cypriane Dormenval.

Former students at WIMR/USyd/Westmead:

Sarah Walker (PhD), Stephanie Obeid (PhD), Saeed Esmaili (PhD), Badr Alzahrani (PhD), Mohammed Alanazy (PhD), Medhi Ramezani-Moghadam (MPhil), Nikita Deo (Hons 1st Class), James Hendersen (Hons), Kristen Piper (Hons 1st Class), Lewis Tsang (Hons 1st Class).

Current Funding

Bridge and BridgeTech Industry Fellowship, Chief Investigator,  2021-23.

Gastroenterological Society of Australia Grant, Chief Investigator, 2021-22.

SERTA Grant Townsville University  Hospital, The North Queeensland liver cancer library,  2020-22.

SERTA Grant Townsville University Hospital, Establishing the North Queensland Diabetic muscle stem cell library, 2021-23.

JCU Sandpit to Seed (S2S), New ways to make new muscle. Chief Investigator, 2020-21.

SERTA Grant  Townsville University  Hospital, Oropharyngeal Cancer and Stem Cells, 2019-21.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists Research Grant, 2019-21.

Precision Medicine for North Queensland Liver Patients. Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre. Chief Investigator, 2022-23.

SERTA Grant Townsville University Hospital, Establishing the North Queensland Liver Tumour Library: improving detection and treatment, 2023-25.

SERTA Grant Townsville University Hospital, Improving outcomes for patients with muscle wasting disease and liver cancer, 2023-24.

JCU Sandpit to Seed (S2S), Growing Clean Meat at Scale. Chief Investigator, 2023-24.

 

Teaching

• BC2013: Principles of Biochemistry (Level 2; TSV)
• BC3102: Molecular Basis of Disease (Level 3; TSV)
• BC5102: Advanced Molecular Basis of Disease (Level 5; TSV)
• MD1010: Introduction to Integrated Medical Studies Part 1 of 2 (Level 1; CNS & TSV)
• MD1020: Introduction to Integrated Medical Studies Part 2 of 2 (Level 1; TSV)
• MD3011: Introduction to Clinical Healthcare Part 1 of 2 (Level 3; TSV)
• MD3012: Introduction to Clinical Healthcare Part 2 of 2 (Level 3; TSV)

Interests

Professional

• Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA)
• European Society for the Study of the Liver
• Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research

• Role of metabolism in liver cancer progression
• Muscle development and disease
• Cancer Stem Cells

Experience

• 2020 to present - Associate Professor, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2018 to present - Associate Dean, Research, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2015 to 2019 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2008 to 2015 - Group Leader, University of Sydney, Westmead Institute of Medical Research (Westmead, Sydney, Australia)
• 2006 to 2008 - Staff Investigator, Burnham Institute (La Jolla, USA)
• 2002 to 2006 - Postdoc, Burnham Institute (La Jolla, USA)
• 1999 to 2002 - Postdoc, University Hospital, Zurich (Switzerland)
• 1995 to 1998 - PhD, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (Karlrsuhe, Germany)
• 1991 to 1993 - MPhil, Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia)
• 1985 to 1991 - Undergrad Science/Economics/Biochemistry, Griffith University and the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia)

Research Disciplines

• Oncology and carcinogenesis (3211)
• Biochemistry and cell biology (3101)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)
• Clinical health (2001)

Awards

• 2017 to 2019 - QLD Cancer Council Project Grant
• 2016 to 2017 - JCU Development Grant
• 2013 to 2017 - NSW Cancer Council Project Grant
• 2016 - 3 Minute Thesis Winner Established Researcher Category
• 2013 - WMI Science prize
• 2011 - NSW Cancer Council Innovation Grant
• 2005 - Career Development Award from the Fishman Fund

Fellowships

• 2020 to 2021 - Bridge and BridgeTech Industry Fellowship
• 2004 - Travel fellowship from the Keystone Conference Foundation
• 1995 to 1999 - PhD Fellowship for Doctoral work from the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany
• 1992 to 1993 - Fellowship from the Royal Australian College of Physicians for MPhil studies

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU.

Journal Articles

• Dorney R, Dhungel B, Rasko J, Hebbard L and Schmitz U (2023) Recent Advances in Cancer Fusion Transcript Detection. Briefings in Bioinformatics, 24 (1).
• Gillman R, Field M, Schmitz U, Karamatic R and Hebbard L (2023) Identifying cancer driver genes in individual tumours. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 21. pp. 5028-5038
• Harkus U, Wankell M, Palamuthusingam P, McFarlane C and Hebbard L (2022) Immune checkpoint inhibitors in HCC: Cellular, molecular and systemic data. Seminars in Cancer Biology, 86 (3). pp. 799-815
• Sun E, Wankell M, Palamuthusingam P, McFarlane C and Hebbard L (2021) Targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma. Biomedicines, 9 (11).
• Taylor L, Wankell M, Saxena P, McFarlane C and Hebbard L (2021) Cell adhesion an important determinant of myogenesis and satellite cell activity. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Molecular Cell Research, 1869 (2).
• Zhou G, Da Won Bae S, Nguyen R, Huo X, Han S, Zhang Z, Hebbard L, Duan W, Eslam M, Liddle C, Yuen L, Lam V, Qiao L and George J (2021) An aptamer-based drug delivery agent (CD133-apt-Dox) selectively and effectively kills liver cancer stem-like cells. Cancer Letters, 501. pp. 124-132
• Dewdney B, Alanzay M, Gillman R, Walker S, Wankell M, Qiao L, George J, Roberts A and Hebbard L (2020) The effects of fructose and metabolic inhibition on hepatocellular carcinoma. Scientific Reports, 10.
• Dewdney B, Roberts A, Qiao L, George J and Hebbard L (2020) A sweet connection? Fructose’s role in hepatocellular carcinoma. Biomolecules, 10 (4).
• Gillman R, Lopes Floro K, Wankell M and Hebbard L (2020) The role of DNA damage and repair in liver cancer. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Reviews on Cancer, 1875 (1).
• Gupta S, Read S, Shackel N, Hebbard L, George J and Ahlenstiel G (2019) The role of micronutrients in the infection and subsequent response to hepatitis C virus. Cells, 8 (6).
• Kreuter R, Wankell M, Ahlenstiel G and Hebbard L (2019) The role of obesity in inflammatory bowel disease. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease, 1865 (1). pp. 63-72
• Walker S, Wankell M, White R, Ho V, Deo N, Devine C, Dewdney B, Bhathal P, Govaere O, Roskams T, Qiao L, George J and Hebbard L (2019) Targeting mTOR and Src restricts hepatocellular carcinoma growth in a novel murine liver cancer model. PLoS One, 14 (2).

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 58+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Lionel Hebbard from 2000 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Analysing the role of chimeric transcripts in human cancers (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Tropical plant-derived drug lead molecules for treating liver cancer (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Sarcopenia in patient undergoing cardiac surgery (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Targeting DNA Repair in HCC through Synthetic Lethality (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Developing a new treatment regime for hepatocellular carcinoma (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

Completed

• The role of T-cadherin in regulating skeletal muscle myogenesis (2024, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Investigating receptors and signalling pathways of coral settlement and metamorphosis using proteomics, transcriptomics and phylogenetics (2023, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Characterising the role of fructose metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma (2021, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Novel targets and strategies in the treatment of liver and oral pharyngeal cancer (2021, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.